Question: Both my fiance and I have our names on our mortgage. We only bought the house this past summer. We split up now. Financially, I'm the one that can afford to keep the house and he's agreed. What do I need to do to sign it over to just my name?
Answer: If your ex sells his interest in the property to you, then title to the property changes. Once title changes a lender typically has the right to immediately call the loan. However, in the case of a divorce, the Garn-St. Germain Act can apply. It says a lender cannot call a loan when there has been "a transfer resulting from a decree of a dissolution of marriage, legal separation agreement, or from an incidental property settlement agreement, by which the spouse of the borrower becomes an owner of the property."
However, you're not a spouse. You're not married so you cannot be unmarried.
In an odd way, you may have to get married and then divorced to have Garn apply. Alternatively, it may be easier to ask the lender if it would release your ex from the loan. If no, then you may need to refinance.
For details, please speak with a real estate attorney.
Question: My husband and I have been renting our home for almost three years. We recently began searching for a home to buy -- but would actually love to buy the home we are currently renting. We would like to approach the owner in a letter, but unsure of etiquette -- we have never met owner (he lives out of state), but exchange holiday cards with him each year. Is it in poor taste to write the owner?
Are there any helpful hints you could provide in drafting a letter?
Answer: You might try something like this:
Dear Mr. Smith:
We have lived at your property on Maple Court for the past three years and are now considering the purchase of a home. Would you have an interest in selling? We could both benefit.
Our idea is to buy from you -- but to be flexible about a settlement date. You would then have the best opportunity to do a tax-deferred 1031 exchange with less time pressure. In turn, we would like to buy with a seller credit sufficient to off-set our closing costs (or whatever benefits or discounts you can get).
We know you have to run this by your broker and other professionals, but we hope our offer will be of interest.
Question: Our home just sold and yesterday the buyer's home inspector was at our home for about an hour. We did not tell our buyer, but we had our home inspected before we put it on the market, and our inspector was here for over three hours. He took our furnace apart, and spent a good 20 minutes inspecting it. His comment to us was that our furnace was in great shape for being 12 years old. We do have it cleaned every year.
The buyer's inspector didn't even open our furnace. I saw on his report that he marked "rust, poor condition." How can we handle this if the buyers come back with concerns about the furnace?
Answer: The fact that the furnace is cleaned every year does not mean it is without rust. The fact that a furnace has rust may or may not mean anything.
So sure, show the buyers your inspection report if the furnace becomes an issue. Additionally, I bet if asked your inspector would be delighted to write a strong letter regarding what he did to examine the furnace and his conclusions.
A word of caution: If you have a heating and air conditioning company check the system, be sure they understand that any required work will be done with another company. There's an unavoidable conflict-of-interest in any field when an inspector says a system needs repairs -- and such repairs also produce business for the inspector.
Question: I own a manufactured home with land, a tree, a workshop, enclosed decking and a carport with concrete foundation. It's in excellent condition and even has double windows. I've done floor tiling in both baths, laundry room and kitchen along with replacing lighting, sink faucets and toilets.
Can you give me an approximate value -- let's say in five years.
Answer: No. I can't tell you what the property is worth this morning and I have no idea what it may be worth in the future.
To determine the current value, have a local broker or appraiser take a look at the property. As to the what the property may be worth in the future, no one knows.
Question: A broker bought a property for $225,000 two years ago and now wants to sell for $450,000. The house is substandard: broken water pipes, mold. etc. We rent it. He refuses to make any necessary repairs and has been cited for violating the building code. Is this a property flip scam?
Answer: Landlords have an obligation to maintain properties so they are safe and habitable. Most landlords understand that the best way to keep tenants, avoid vacancies and raise values is to maintain properties with care.
It is not illegal to flip either real estate or stock; that is, to buy and then quickly re-sell at a higher price. It is also not relevant to this matter.
You must continue to pay the lease. However, given that the home has building code violations, speak with a local housing group, health department, government building inspector, attorney or legal clinic regarding such rights as you may have to prematurely end the lease and obtain other compensation and remedies.
Question: I'm going through the process of buying a new home. The builder agreed to reduce our closing costs by $7,500 and to provide options they say are worth $40,000 if we agreed to use of their lender and settlement company. They promised their lender would be competitive and everything would be nice and easy. However, we believe that both the first and second mortgages are over-priced -- the first mortgage by more than 1 percent and the second mortgage by more than 2 percent.
I took their good faith estimate to our credit union and they said we are being charged $5,000 extra in closing costs compared to what they would charge.
If we go with other lenders we stand to pay $42,500 extra for the house. If we withdraw now, we will lose the $10,000 deposit. The only option in front of us is to take what they give and shell out another $10,000 to refinance.
Answer: Builders are nothing other than sellers. There is no reason to believe that builders should not seek the best possible return for their property, just like any other seller.
You traded a lower price and certain options in exchange for the right of the builder to name the lender and the closing agent. It surely makes sense to believe that the builder would seek to recover some of its discounts in the form of higher closing costs and loan pricing.
What you have here is a bargain which is not as good as you expected. In the future, use a buyer broker or experienced real estate attorney to help negotiate with builders and other sellers.
Question: While in another state I purchased a piece of property. I signed a sales contract. When I got home I sent the downpayment. I then realized I could not afford the payments when I shortly retire. I canceled the check and called the salesperson. He threatened to sue. Am I responsible since no money crossed hands? I am 69 years old and overdue for retirement as it is. I do not want to work longer to pay for this property. The area is beautiful so I was thinking with my heart not my head.
Answer: The idea of a written contract is to assure performance by both sides. What may make sense in this situation is to have an attorney review the agreement to see if it can be settled through the loss of some or all of the deposit alone -- or by re-selling the property if it must be purchased.
Question: I am a broker and have a friend who wrote a contract to purchase a new home from a builder. The contract has a non-assignment clause so he cannot assign the contract. He found another property that he wants to purchase instead of the one with the non-assignment clause. He wants me to find a buyer for the property that he doesn't want so he can add them to the contract.
His plan is to go to settlement and sell the property to this added buyer (essentially a concurrent settlement). Can I as a broker direct a potential buyer to him and collect a finder's fee?
Answer: There are two separate transactions looming. First, the buyer must settle with the builder. Second, once the buyer is the owner, he or she can sell to another party. In this case, you can simply list it.
Can the property be re-sold at a higher price? If yes, why doesn't your friend just ask the builder if he would like the property back in exchange for allowing the buyer to exit the transaction without penalty? That should please everyone.
Question: When I came home yesterday on the door was a notice increasing my rent from $1,475 to $1,800 per month. In the 12 and half years I have lived here I have never been late. I had a co-worker call to see how much they are renting two- bedroom units for today and was told $1,575.
I then called the office and was told that the owners want to redo the townhouse and was offered the opportunity to move to another townhouse for the $1,575. I feel that I'm being pushed out. Can they increase my rent higher then what they want for the other townhouse?
Answer: As long as the increase is based on objective criteria and not discriminatory factors, and as long as rent control is not an issue, yes.
They want to improve the unit. It is their property. If they are refurbishing a number of units, it may be cheaper for them to do the work on most or all units at one time -- thus a reason for them to raise your rent disproportionately. Or, it may simply be time to refurbish your particular unit.
They have given you an opportunity to rent another unit at a lower rate. Given your record, why not speak with management and ask if you can have the alternative unit at a discount? A polite inquiry couldn't hurt and might lead to a better rate for you.
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